6 Digital Moments from Spring 2014 New York Fashion Week | Day 6

September 11, 2013
| By: Sean Roker

Day 6 of New York Fashion Week Coverage - Innovative New Uses of Technology

As the fashion industry looks for new and improved ways to interact with the consumer, creative and innovative uses of technology were bound to crop up. From Rebecca Minkoff’s fleeting Snaps Chats to Tommy Hilfiger’s social concierge, see how techonology changed the face of Spring 2014 New York Fashion Week.

1. Live Stream of New York Fashion Week

Source: mbfashionweek.com

Historically a closed door event, IMG Fashion (the company that runs New York Fashion Week) partnered with video solutions provider, Rightster, to stream runway shows live from Lincoln Center. They are also continuously rebroadcasting shows from earlier in the week for those who missed it the first time around.

2. Moto X takes mobile to the runway

Source: MOTO X

Last year, DVF impressed us with ultra modern models gracing NYFW runways wearing Google Glass. This year, the new Moto X phone from Motorola is the high tech “it” item at Made Fashion Week. Motorola sponsored 4 designers this week, at least one of which will incorporate the phone in their presentation. Motorola also set up Match Booths around the city where enthusiasts can go to test it out the technology. These aren’t the only occasions where consumer technology and fashion have collided. In this year’s September issue of Vogue, Google Glass snagged a futuristic 8-page product spot. Is focusing on fashionistas the new trend for boosting consumer technology sales?

3. Request professional pics for social media

Tommy Hilfiger, who’s been showing his collections for nearly 30 years, tried his had at a few new technologies this year. First, he invited several prominent fashion bloggers to photograph using Lytro, cameras whose photos allow viewers to manipulate, enlarge, and focus its images with one click (try it with the tweet below). But even better was his “social concierge” program, which allowed attendees to request specific photos before, during, and after the show so they wouldn’t have to rely on blurry camera phone pictures for social media sharing. Half an hour before the show, a Mashable blogger requested an image with Tommy and one of his models giving a thumbs up. The image to the right was emailed before the show even started. #VeryCool

4. Fleeting sneak peeks of Spring 2014 via Snap Chat

It started in 2011 with Burberry revealing its SS12 collection via Twitter in a #tweetwalk show. Since then, designers have searched for ways to incorporate social media into the big reveal of the season’s new collection. J Crew’s spring line was the first to hit Pinterest. But Rebecca Minkoff? Snap Chat. The app allows users to snap and share pictures with their followers. But there’s one catch: the pics automatically erase after 10 seconds, so all that’s left is their memory. In other words, fans were able to get a sneak peek of the collection prior to its unveiling at Lincoln Center–but just a peek!

5. An actual hackathon, hosted by Glamour and CFDA

What happens when you team up developers, designers, and ideas-people with a singular challenge to create a super cool game, app or tool related to fashion? A hack-a-thon. This weekend, Glamour and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) hosted an event called Dressed to Code, in which a fashion-forward crowd of techies gathered to create tools to enhance shopping, style blogging or outfit sharing experiences. All-star judges included Rebecca Minkoff (fashion designer) and Russ Yusupov (cofounder and CD of Vine).

6. Putting Tumblr on display

While Tumblr has been involved with Fashion Week for at least six seasons, this year they’ve partnered with NYC fashion bloggers and 18 designers to document runway show preparation and execution. Their work will be exhibited at Milk Studios until September 12th. Sony, in an effort to to promote their own new Tumblr site, sponsored the undertaking by providing the bloggers with DSLRs and Xperia Tablet Z.

Conclusion

Live steaming, social media…it’s no secret that consumers are changing the way luxury and fashion brands unveil their collections during Fashion Week. But it seems they’re actually changing the whole process, from design to production to merchandising. Last season, at the end of Burberry’s runway show, viewers could go online, order a coat, and receive it 8 weeks later, months before it was even stocked in stores. I wonder what we’ll see next season.

More New York Fashion Week Coverage

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Corra is the global digital agency that fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands trust to create luxury commerce experiences. With headquarters in the key markets of New York, Los Angeles, and London, Corra provides innovative solutions at the intersection of technology, creativity, and strategy.

Sean Roker is Director of Marketing at Corra. Sean is puts his marketing acumen and deep knowledge of Corra to use in leading the marketing team. As a longtime member of the Corra team, Sean has worn many hats within the marketing department, including his previous roles as Marketing Manager and Demand Generation Manager.